Letter leads to more questions on brain death and organ harvesting

If a person were truly dead, would he or she feel pain? If not, why is it necessary to anesthetize patients who have been pronounced “brain dead” before unpaired organs are harvested?

Also, why have those who have witnessed the harvesting of the heart of a “brain dead” patient seen a beating heart?

Once these questions are answered satisfactorily, I will be OK with organ harvesting from “brain dead” patients.

In the meantime, I will pray to God that those in the Church are not accepting an evil cause—using a faulty method of determining death and thereby committing murder—for a good effect—saving another life through organ transplantation.